Daoist Yu
Daoist Yu. In early autumn of that year, Daoist Yu and his disciple Wu Qi were living in seclusion at Baofu Mountain Temple in Baozi Jie, Yongding County. As they rested in the temple, a band of robbers with swords and clubs suddenly burst through the gate, shouting fiercely: "Where are the monks?! Where are the monks?! We're hungry! We want food! Wine! Meat! And...!" They shouted as they came...
This article has been compiled from historical materials on 'Zhangjiajie Tour Guide Network' (33519.com · Specialty Foods / Cuisine / Customs section). Prices, business hours, administrative divisions, and statistical data mentioned in the text may already be outdated. Before traveling, please refer to the latest announcements from merchants, scenic areas, and local competent authorities; the parts involving folk legends and folk customs are local historical and cultural anecdotes, provided for cultural reference.
Daoist Yu
In the early autumn of that year, Daoist Yu and his disciple Wu Qi were living in seclusion at Baofu Mountain Temple in Baozi Boundary, Yongding County. They were resting in the temple when suddenly a band of robbers with trailing knives and dragging clubs burst in through the mountain gate, shouting fiercely: "Where are the monks?! Where are the monks?! We're hungry! We want to eat! We want wine! We want meat! We want...!" As they shouted, they ran about rummaging and overturning things, pounding on doors and walls. Daoist Yu asked: "Guests from where? At this time there is no rice and no firewood here, so I fear it will be hard to cook." The band said: "You bald old dogs, what do you eat?! What do you burn?!" Daoist Yu said: "The rice is finished, but there is still grain; the fine firewood is burned up, but it grows before the gate. If you are hungry, then get firewood and pound rice yourselves. But there is not much water either, and we still need to find vegetables. The water here is far, and washing vegetables and carrying water takes time. You are strangers here, so my disciple and I will take care of carrying water and finding vegetables. Getting firewood and pounding rice will trouble you all." The lead ruffian said impatiently: "Enough, no more rambling, go quickly, go quickly!" Hearing this, the master and disciple scooped out a basket of grain and each went off on their own.
Before long, one robber stood outside the gate and shouted: "You two bald dogs, where are your axe and your rice-pounding mortar?!" Daoist Yu answered: "Ah! True, monks do not kill living things, so how could we have an axe? Firewood is split by hand, and rice is pounded by hand!" The ruffian grew angrier and said: "Nonsense! You come back and do it, quick! Quick!" Daoist Yu responded: "We're coming back, Wu Qi! You come back too!"
The master and disciple returned to the temple. One ruffian fiercely set the grain before Wu Qi and roared: "Pound it for me, quick!" Another ruffian shouted: "We haven't even seen a hair of firewood, and you still want to cook fucking rice?!" Daoist Yu said to Wu Qi: "I'll get the firewood, you pound the rice!" Then Daoist Yu walked out of the temple gate, pulled up by the roots a dry tree stump as thick as an embrace in front of the gate, lightly snapped it, and the stump broke in two; then with several palm strikes he split the log into several pieces. On this side, Wu Qi gathered qi into his palms and thrust them randomly into the basket, and at once the grain was broken into rice. The watching robbers were all dumbstruck. Seeing that things were going badly, the lead ruffian knelt down on one knee, crying out that he had failed to recognize Mount Tai and begging the master to spare his life. Daoist Yu roared: "Scram!" The robbers fled in panic, clutching their heads and scurrying away.
The affair of Daoist Yu and his disciple frightening off the robbers spread quickly in all directions, and for dozens of li around the temple people enjoyed peace from then on. The road before the temple was ceaselessly traveled by pilgrims and worshippers, and no one felt anxious anymore. Because the temple site was remote and transport inconvenient, yet it stood on a vital route through Yong and Yuan, Daoist Yu and his disciple discussed setting up a shop to sell daily necessities, so as to reduce the hardship of mountain people traveling back and forth to buy goods. Daoist Yu kept the shop, Wu Qi handled the goods, and master and disciple divided the work of business to take modest profits. It is said that Deng San and his son Deng Mingqing of Banbian Street in Dayong City also came to the temple to open an opium den (selling opium); master and disciple urged Deng that "the poison of opium ruins the country and harms the people," and Deng changed his trade.
One year, Wu Qi was selling cloth and sundries as far as Longxing Temple in Yuanling, when he met a wandering Daoist with a Shandong accent. The man repeatedly scrutinized Wu Qi and asked his name, as if suspicious. Later he forcibly tried to buy cloth on credit. Wu Qi, considering that this man was a complete stranger to him and that he did not know his address in detail, did not agree, but had several bolts of fine cloth seized by force, and the man was about to leave. Wu Qi grabbed the wicked Daoist and would not let go. The wicked Daoist put down the cloth, walked under the great hanging bell, took the bell down with both hands, then kicked it several zhang away, and facing Wu Qi said with a sinister smile: "Can you put it back where it was? If not, then you must do as I say." Wu Qi wanted to flare up, but remembered his master's parting instruction: "Unless your life is at stake, you must not reveal your skills." So he swallowed his anger and sought another way.
Seeing Wu Qi hesitate and not move, the wicked Daoist picked up the cloth and started off. At this moment a strong man among the onlookers was enraged; with angry brows and glaring eyes he stepped out and answered: "Don't go! I'll hang it!" With that he kicked the bell back to its original place, lifted it up with one hand and hung it, then took it down again, spun it in the air and tossed it in flourishes as if playing with bowls and cups, and after a while stopped, raised the great bell, and asked: "Will you retreat or not?" The wicked Daoist looked at the strong man and gave a startled cry: "Rebel bandit! We have received the court's order and are looking for you and your kind!" Immediately he drew his knife to cut. Hearing this, the strong man struck with the bell; the wicked Daoist dodged, then rushed at the strong man with his knife, and the two fought a fierce battle with no victory decided. Somehow the strong man slipped and fell, and the wicked Daoist raised his knife to strike. At this critical moment, a dart suddenly flew in and struck the wicked Daoist's knife-wielding wrist, and another dart pierced his chest. With an "Ah," the wicked Daoist fell like a wooden post. Both darts were thrown by Wu Qi in the emergency. Seeing that a death had occurred, Wu Qi helped the strong man up and fled with the goods.
To avoid disaster, Wu Qi and the strong man ran back to Baozi Boundary day and night. When the strong man saw Daoist Yu, he cried out "Master Jin!" and threw himself into Yu's arms, weeping. Yu immediately raised the strong man up and asked when he had met Twelfth Brother (Wu Qi). It turned out that Daoist Yu's surname was "Jin," not "Yu," and Wu Qi was not his real name either. Because they had followed Yu Shiwan in opposing the Qing, their families had all been killed, and only then had the two taken refuge here.
Master Jin, imitating the method by which Yang Silang of the Song dynasty, trapped among the foreign tribes, changed the surname Yang to "Mu" and the name to "Yi," changed the surname "Jin" to the surname Yu and the name Yi; among the people, Daoist Yu was also said to have the great name Yu Shiwan. Wu Qi was Daoist Yu's twelfth disciple, so his name was changed according to the numerical principle of five plus seven making twelve. The strong man (name unknown) was Daoist Yu's fifth disciple. He had also joined the "Boxer" organization, but had not studied martial arts at the same time as Wu Qi, so the two did not know each other. Because he had killed a prominent Qing official and burned a prefectural yamen, he fled arrest and took refuge in Yuanling. Since he happened to resemble Wu Qi in appearance, the arresting officer disguised as a wicked Daoist stared at Wu Qi for a long time and provoked a martial contest to test whether he was the wanted criminal.
The strong man did not stay long at Baozi Boundary, and returned because he missed his family and kin.
Now to tell how, in the autumn of that year, Wu Qi returned to the temple after going out to sell goods, and two youths followed him in, saying they wanted lodging. The two looked alike; the elder was about fifteen or sixteen, the younger about twelve or thirteen, both stocky and clever-looking.
Rising early the next morning, the two youths sought out Daoist Yu to test and learn martial arts from him. Daoist Yu modestly said: "I left home as a monk in childhood and have never studied martial arts; I have failed your kind intentions." The youths pointed at Wu Qi and laughed: "Why does the master lie? The matter of saving him in Lizhou (present-day Li County)? Surely you have not forgotten it?"
Daoist Yu was startled, remembering that three years earlier in early winter, when passing through Lizhou city, an old martial master had set up a challenge ring. Wu Qi, disobeying his master's instruction, had gone alone to watch, and because he saw the old man was arrogant and fierce, he rashly mounted the platform to compete. The ring-setter's martial skill was extremely deep, and just as he was launching a fatal move at Wu Qi, Daoist Yu happened to find Wu Qi there. At that critical moment, Daoist Yu leaped onto the platform and struck the old ring-setter down, saving Wu Qi. Had Daoist Yu not held back in his move, the opponent would certainly have met King Yan on the spot.
The old martial master's great fame in the martial world was wiped out by Daoist Yu's one move, and so he harbored hatred and wished to wipe away this shame. But deeply feeling that he was old and his body increasingly weak, he passed all the skills he had learned in his life to his two young sons, and also hired experts to teach them, in order to seek revenge. In the spring of that year, he died of illness. At death this thought was not extinguished; he regretted the humiliation of being knocked off the platform, and his two sons solemnly remembered it. After the funeral, the brothers set out on the road, searching everywhere. Yesterday they happened to meet Wu Qi, and so followed him here.
Hearing the youths' words, Daoist Yu said: "This matter did happen. To save my disciple, I truly had no choice. Now that you young gentlemen have come here, what do you intend?" The youths said: "To be frank, we brothers have come to wash away the shame of our father being knocked off the platform. If you defeat us brothers, we will take you as our master. If we win, we will not make things hard for you otherwise; we only ask you to kneel and call us master three times." The youths' rude words had already enraged Wu Qi nearby, who cried: "Hey, don't boast too soon. I'll contend with you first. If you can beat me, then it will not be too late to test yourselves against my master." The youths said together: "Fine! Who stands as the post?" Wu Qi pointed at his nose with his index finger: "Me!" The brothers cried, "Watch out!" and rushed at Wu Qi from left and right. Wu Qi immediately spread his arms to clamp the youths, but the young brothers were like lightning and swift arrows, and in an instant were nowhere to be seen. Just as he was about to turn and search, he suddenly heard laughter behind him: "You're no good; better call the old master. If you don't believe it, look under your arms." Wu Qi looked at both armpits: each had a knife cut, layer after layer of clothing sliced through, almost reaching the skin. Had they not held back, he would already have been harmed. He could not help but feel ashamed and shocked.
At this point Daoist Yu said: "Young men, there is no need to be impatient, nor to take it too seriously. In contests and martial competitions, victory and defeat are inevitable. To call someone master or disciple, there is no distinction of senior or junior. The ancients said, where the Way exists, there the teacher exists. Among three people there must be one who can be my teacher—every phrase is true. The ancient sages still spoke thus; what sort of figure am I, truly insignificant. Even if I were defeated by you, what harm would there be in calling you master three or five times, or for a lifetime? You two have crossed mountains and passes, suffered the dust of travel, and endured the toil of a long journey. You should rest. Wait while I go to the city to buy some wine and food to welcome you young gentlemen and wash away the dust; once you have rested well, it will not be too late to learn from each other another day." Daoist Yu's words won the young brothers' agreement.
After breakfast, Daoist Yu prepared a wine pot, bamboo basket, money, and the like, intending to set out for the city. The young brothers mistakenly thought Yu was afraid and wanted to slip away, and said they wanted to go along to "play." Daoist Yu gladly agreed. After some polite deferring, Daoist Yu still took the lead.
After leaving the temple, Daoist Yu walked briskly and swiftly, with the young brothers following close behind. When they reached Tumu Stream, the Daoist did not take off his shoes to wade, but leaped up and was on the opposite bank. The young brothers did not fall behind either, both leaping across.
Yu did not pause at all. Going up to Bazhe Bay he walked even more swiftly, as if flying, his single braid straight in the wind, the corners of his clothes flapping. By Sanwang Slope his speed increased further, and he likewise leaped over the small stream at Zhenzhu Valley. By now, although the brothers had not fallen behind, they felt very tired, and when leaping the small stream at Zhenzhu Valley they nearly fell into the water.
Daoist Yu continued walking swiftly. Seeing a pair of water buffaloes locking horns and blocking the road, he sprang forward in one stride, seized one horn of each buffalo with his hands, twisted hard, and the buffaloes both tumbled to the ground. The young brothers were startled for the first time.
After passing the fields, Daoist Yu saw a pair of egrets soaring several dozen zhang above the ground. He casually picked up two stones and threw them, and both egrets fell. The young brothers were even more startled.
When they reached Cormorant Bay, Daoist Yu saw that the ferry had already passed midstream. Unhurriedly he tightened his belt, leaped into the air, and landed on the boat like a feather, without the slightest swaying on board; every passenger was astonished. By now the young brothers were stunned by this peerless martial skill. Daoist Yu waited for them on the opposite bank. After the brothers got off the boat, they felt boundless admiration for Daoist Yu in their hearts. They knelt on all fours and cried: "Master above, receive your juniors' bow..." The two knelt long and would not rise until Daoist Yu agreed to take them as disciples.
(Collected by Guan Zheng and Gu Chuan)
[Appendix] Eight Rules of the Ghost Valley Divine Skill for Teaching Disciples and Training
Daoist Yu, original name Yu Shiwan (one tradition says surname Jin, name Yi), was born in the mid-Qianlong reign of the Qing dynasty (1785 AD) at Yao Family Bay, Daping (present-day Daping Town, Yongding District). In youth he became a monk at Guanyin Temple, and later took the famous boxer Zhu Maoling as his master, specializing in the "Heavenly Gate Ghost Valley Skill." Zhu Maoling secretly taught him such unique skills as "one-peck carving," "hip wind," "red killer palm," "diamond finger," and "lightness skill." Daoist Yu had extremely high comprehension and developed the Ghost Valley Skill to its highest peak. His main outstanding disciples included Wu Qi, the "three and a half treasures," and the "three and a half craftsmen," namely: Zhang Cibao, Du Dianbao, Zhou Fubao, Gong Xibao (half treasure), Zhang the pot mender, Chen the sand mender, and Bai the oil mender (half craftsman). Famous figures in the modern martial world of Zhangjiajie are all descendants of Daoist Yu's lineage.
The Ghost Valley Divine Skill for teaching disciples and training has eight rules in all:
1. From Green Vegetable Stream in the north, from Pheasant Flat in the south, with ten jin of sand tied to the legs, run up the pass without rest; the hands can catch a dog, the braid can bridge a stream; 2. With ten packs of sand around, swing open and take no blows; 3. Leap a two-zhang pit, jump out of a seven-chi depth; pinch ten jin with two fingers, and for three li do not slacken; 4. Both feet in a low stance, both hands stretched straight and level; with both hands extended level, lift a hundred jin across the arms; 5. When struck from the front, the eyes do not blink; when struck from behind, you can hear it; bend forward until the forehead touches the toes, bend back until the back of the head touches the heels; 6. Do not turn backward, do not face forward; bend left and right and touch the legs; tilt the head left and touch the left shoulder, tilt the head right and touch the right shoulder; 7. Bend forward until the tongue licks the chest, lean back until the back of the head touches the shoulders; 8. Chop a thousand times, chop for the time of a cup of smoke; kick eight hundred times, stand for half a day, without pain, swelling, or soreness.